Today, almost half of all workers have no paid sick leave, and low-income workers are in even more dire straits–76 percent have no paid sick leave.
 
The reporting on the Bill prompted AFL-CIO Now reader Dave Hurlburt of Pacifica, Calif., to submit the following poem:  “One Sick Kin from Being Fired.”
 
Hurlburt, a member of Communications Workers of America Local 9410 and retired after 30 years as a communications technician for SBC, has long been an advocate for family friendly workplace policies, especially paid sick leave.  He was a vocal advocate for San Francisco’s recent successful ballot measure that requires employers to provide paid sick leave.
 
Even though little more than half of today’s workers have paid sick leave, Hurlburt remembers when things were worse. In the early 1970s when he was working for Pacific Bell Telephone, his young son developed a 105-degree temperature, and Hurlburt rushed him to the hospital in the predawn hours and missed that day’s work.
 
I got written up for it and put on notice. My boss told me I should have been at work instead of taking my son to the hospital. He said, “That’s what you got a wife for.”
 
A lot of things have changed since the 1970’s. More workers have some paid sick leave, and women have earned more respect for their roles at work and in he family. But in both cases, much more needs to be done.
 
Here’s Dave’s poem:
 
One Sick Kin from Being Fired
 
It is hard for a family to make both ends meet,
Both of us working so we are not on the street.
Minimum wage workers need every single dime;
They also need some emergency kin care time.
 
We work hard and at night and we’re so tired.
Just one sick child away from being fired.
 
Why can’t we use sick leave to care for our kin?
When the Boss fires us for that, it is just a sin.
Not any time off with pay for short-time family care;
When the roll is called up yonder, will these managers be there?
 
We work hard and at night and we’re so tired.
Just one sick spouse away from being fired.
 
Companies protect and defend at all costs their mighty corporate rights,
So when you take time off for your family, be prepared to join the fights.
Working families, we need to lobby Congress and the legislatures, too.
We need a law so our jobs are protected when our child gets the flu.
 
We work hard and at night and we’re so tired.
Just one sick parent away from being fired.
 
Providing time for families doesn’t cost, it will pay.
It reduces turnover because more employees stay.
It increases loyalty, dedication, and it is caring and kind.
A benefit employees value, and it’s one that’s hard to find.
 
We work hard and at night and we’re so tired.
Just one sick parent away from being fired.
 
Too many times we’re fired and end up in the street.
Loss of jobs or pay and our bills we can’t meet.
Bankruptcy from medical bills or the loss of a job,
We loose heart and hope, and our kids learn to rob.
 
You can pay to build families or tear them apart.
The dollars spent on sick leave are just a start.
Childcare, after-school programs to care for our kids,
And medical care for every one, even those on the skids.
If you don’t do these things, you will still pay the price
In court costs and prisons, and that is not very nice.
A nation’s economy must serve all the people in the land;
Not greed or the wealthy, government must take a stand.
 
The social safety net is not just for the poor;
It protects us all from the thief at our door.